Moped dealers should be charged over souped-up scooters – Labour

Three-quarters of registered moped dealers are prepared to modify the engine so they go faster than the permitted 25 km/h, according to an investigation carried out for the Labour Party (PvdA).

The party wants it to be made a criminal offence to enhance a moped. It said that 74 out of 96 dealers which it contacted in a spot-check survey agreed without hesitation to make the modifications.

Labour MP Duco Hoogland claimed that 80% of mopeds in Amsterdam are able to go faster than the maximum speed at which they are eligible to use cycle paths. ‘They race over the cycleway at high speed, past children and older people, resulting in serious accidents,’ he told national broadcaster Nos.

The motor industry organisation Bovag, which licences garages and repair shops, said dealers faced sanctions if they were found to have illegally modified mopeds. Its members signed up to a self-regulatory code of practice in 2004 under which they agreed not to carry out enhancements or advertise them.

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